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Monday, July 28, 2014

My Munchable Soapbox: A Balancing Act

You know
when you were a kid, trying to walk a line with a book placed on the top of
your head? Your mother or teacher always told you that it helps to develop good
posture and cultivates a straight spine. In this land of carrying any and every
thing on your head, people do stand up very straight and tall. Young ladies,
old ladies, tall men, short men, boys, girls; they all transport items casually
resting on their crowns. While I have to say that it is quite a bit easier for
the shoulders or back to use the head, it is hard not to be impressed by some
of the items in transit (not to mention the people carrying them). A bowl full
of cassava is very heavy. Logs are long and unwieldy. Palm wine runs the
risking of tipping and showering sticky sweet beverage all over the unhappy
porter.

This
balancing act that almost the entire population of Ghana seems to be
performing, also is a pretty apt metaphor for the lives these same people lead.
I’m primarily chatting with cocoa farmers day in and day out, but their daily
decisions reach far beyond the commodity. When farming, it is like you are
confronting a scale, weighing the costs and benefits of each practice, each
expenditure. Though most people don’t really go through an economic
(monetarily, but also opportunity costs) analysis every time they decide to do
something, there is some element of a balance sheet when choosing whether
adding fertilizer is worth the high price if cocoa yield is uncertain. Or,
spraying pesticide when last year there was no serious infestation. Put time in
and labour into weeding, or spend some money and apply chemicals.

The field is
just the start. I think particularly because of the nature of cocoa farming –
where there is one major harvest, and then another one or two smaller ones –
the prevalence of also balancing multiple modes of employment seems high. A guy
might farm, but perhaps Wednesday he acts as a driver. A woman may own or help
on a cocoa farm, but the cassava, maize, plantain, and cocoyam she grows feeds
the family, or the gari she sells
helps pay for school fees. Perhaps it’s my naiveté, but farming seems to
necessitate flexibility to change, according to the environment and weather
yes, but also to shifting politics and economic circumstances.

A balancing
act it is, but that makes up only a small piece. Juggling (with cocoa pods?)
may be the more appropriate comparison!

As a bonus
to my rant, it’s been a while since you’ve gleaned any recipes from my musings.
So today you get some eggplant stew. These minute garden eggs (or nyaaduwa
in Twi) are sold everywhere and make a really nice base for a stew.

No-Name
Stew

1-2 tbs oil

½ onion,
minced

1 cup
tomatoes, chopped and seeded

2 cups
eggplant, diced and salted

1 cup hardy
green (like collards or spring), shredded

1 tbs tomato
paste + 3 tbs water

¼ cup light
coconut milk (I had to grind up fresh coconut!!)

1 tsp
cayenne pepper, ground (or more to taste)

1 tsp curry
spice of choice (or more to taste)

Salt to
taste

1.Heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat.
Sautee onions until starting to brown. Add tomatoes and cover the pot. Allow to
stew on medium heat for about 7-10 minutes, until tomatoes are really starting
to break down.

2.Add the eggplant, after draining and rinsing.
Stir and cover again, cooking for another 10 minutes or so. Mix in the coconut
milk, tomato paste water, and curry spice, and then cover the pot for another 5
minutes.

3.Maybe pour in some more water if it’s not stew-y
enough, and then place the greens in the pot. Cover and let simmer another 5-10
minutes. Stir so that greens get incorporated and distributed, then lower heat
and let stew another 5-10 minutes.

4.When you think it’s about ready, serve over rice
(or something of that sort). Lentils would also be a nice addition, but could
not get my hands on any here.